Tamron Delights Me, Yet Again!

They say, when you succeed in delighting a customer, you win him forever. This holds true in my case as Tamron has yet again delighted me.

My Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 lens overtime had developed fungus. Though it did not had any adverse effect on my photographs but I wanted to clean it before the problem worsened & further affected the optics. At the recent CEIF 2014, I happened to visit the Tamron booth to try my hands over the new Tamron 150-600mm super telephoto lens. The lens was amazing as I described here. However, a good thing happened while I was there.

Tamron was offering a free lens cleanup service over their booth. I took my lens over & asked whether it could be cleaned there. The fungus though did not affect my pictures was really visible from the front element. Even the back had a few traces of it. The cleanup guy reverted to me with the resolution that the lens would need to be sent for extensive cleanup & would not be serviceable on spot due to lack of advanced equipment. However, he did assure me to clean up the front element of the lens if I’m ready to leave the lens for an hour or so.

I agreed & left the lens for the repairs. I did not had the camera lens cap to keep the camera covered for the time I would leave the lens at the booth. So as I told him, he was kind enough to offer me a camera cap from his personal camera kit. I assured him that I would return as I come back to collect the lens.

After several hours of roaming around the exhibition hall, I finally made my way to the Tamron booth. As I saw my lens after cleanup, I was blown away. Literally, it felt like a brand new one. The optics looked squeaky clean. The outer body looked jet black & I cannot not even tell you how wonderful it was. I snapped the lens on my camera, took a few shots & they were as expected, perfect. And did I mention, all this was done for Free? I thanked the guy over the Tamron booth for the perfect cleanup & left. Tamron really strengthened my loyalty with this really wonderful cleanup.

Off-course, this does not mean I’ll use the lens without servicing for long but really it has given me a time buffer to send it for cleaning at the Tamron service centre. I appreciate the efforts of the cleaning team at the booth & I’m thankful to all of them. I’m delighted. 🙂

I started using tam 17-50 non-vc but I need some help on how to take good pictures with it..specially in side home under lights, want to take my kid photos as kids always on move so most of the times its blurred… if possible guide me on how to and what settings would help…whether flash is required or can be managed without flash… i felt with flash even 18-55 kit lens also very good. please share if you have any info as well… thanks!

Under the scenario you mentioned, you’ll require flash to freeze the kids in motion. Also use the AF mode ‘AI Servo’ on your Canon DSLR which will track the kid in motion. Since at f/2.8, your Depth of Field is very shallow, even a slight movement will throw picture out of focus. Ensure you use a higher shutter-speed of 1/160th & above coupled with a flash to get sufficiently better pictures at a low ISO even at f/2.8.

Thanks! I bought f/2.8 lens only for taking low light, general indoor party pics. As you said at f/2.8 the Depth of Field is very shallow then how can I take party pics at f/2.8 as the focus will be very narrow… then whats the use of f/2.8. Below f2.8 all would be suitable only for a single object which will be in focus rest all would blurred right? If I want to focus entire frame then I need to go above f/8… this is what I understood till now… please correct if I am wrong.

Another doubt I have is, with flash even my kit lens (18-55) also gives very good results then whats the difference between these two lenses when using flash?

The advantage of f/2.8 is it allows more light than kit lens and the blur effect. again the glass quality is good then definitely better pictures.

At shallower DOF, the people in the focus plane will all be in focus. As you shoot wider, the DOF will increase allowing you to get more of the scene in focus. I recommend, shooting at f/4 at moderate 24/35mm & a sufficient amount of scene would be in focus.

If you do not use flash, you will need to raise ISO as indoors, the light is already low & further you’ll be shooting kids in action. I ask you to use flash not as primary source of light but just a slight fill/freeze light to stop the kid in their tracks. You can perhaps try the following settings – 1/100, f/2.8, ISO 1600 & flash at a considerably lower power. Offcourse, these are just approximate settings I’m assuming & considering the actual light indoors you will have to adjust accordingly!

Hi, There was a birthday party at McDonald’s, I took tamron 17-50 f2.8 nonvc, simpex 999 fash in master mode on canon 650d. The hall has got 3 sides full length windows and it was afternoon time. There was a big problem with back light, the back light was so high all faces looking black. I used flash, and really could not handle the situation then I switched to auto mode and clicked all. Many pics were out of focus, I think this lens autofocus not good, some times perfect but I missed many. Another thing with simpex 999, it is firing on all the shots where as when you look at the EXIF info of the pics its showing as flash off – did not fire. why? I dont know how to use this flash on 650d. Is there any flash settings to be set in camera before we use? I did not do any thing just attached the simpex 999 first time on to flash shoe then put it in P mode and shoot. Please brief me on how to handle such situations… thanks! some times I felt the canon kit lens 18-55 was better than tamron 17-50….may be I am wrong…Thanks!

A typical backlit situation you encountered at McDonalds. In such cases, most of the lenses struggle to lock on focus due to really strong light hitting the lens front on. In such a case, its better you use the lens hood but that will help just a little. Better you change your angle of shooting. As the camera metered for the scene outside, you were left with dark faces indoors. In such a case, I recommend to go into the MANUAL mode on camera, set an exposure for the scene outside and pop-up light(flash) into the room to lit up the people faces.

For the focus issue, it can be due to the lens struggling to lock on the focus due to backlit issue or when shooting at f/2.8 fully open, even a small movement on part of the photographer or subject is enough to throw the frame out-of-focus. The 18-55 kit lens would also not focus properly in such scenarios but the picture would appear more to be in focus compared to Tamron since the former aperture closes down to f/5.6 when zoomed giving one more leeway in focus.

For using the flash on Canon 650D, you need not make any flash settings on to the camera. Simply bear in mind that your shutter-speed does not surpass the 1/200 on your camera when using the flash. For general scenarios, I recommend shooting at 1/125th, ISO 400 and aperture of your choice with the flash power set to 1/4th or 1/2th.

Don’t give up on the Tamron 17-50 f/2.8, practice more. Its a gem of a lens. 🙂

Thanks!
Even I tried flash bouncing on roof, used diffuser on the flash, to fill the light inside the hall, does not make any difference. Finally fired flash directly on their faces. Some how I am not happy with the results. Again DOF , I failed to use focus points manually, I was just clicking in auto. Many group pics focused on near by objects rest all blurred.

Coming to shutter speed, why did you say don’t exceed 1/200 with flash? any perticular reason? Camera menu has some flash settings what are they? when can be used?

1/200th is the ‘X-sync Speed’ also known as Flash Sync on most of the DSLR’s. If one crosses this and goes above e.g. on 1/320th or so, part of the frame will come dark. This is due to the sensor not getting exposed properly when using flash. Hence one should work under shutter-speeds of 1/200th when using a flashgun which is not

1/200th is the ‘X-sync Speed’ also known as Flash Sync on most of the DSLR’s. If one crosses this and goes above e.g. on 1/320th or so, part of the frame will come dark. This is due to the sensor not getting exposed properly when using flash. Hence one should work under shutter-speeds of 1/200th when using a flashgun which is not

Its long way to go… have to spend lot of time on photography. Some times I feel just use a good point and shoot cameras for such indoor parties. Now a days point and shoots are too good.

I need a few suggestions from you… As you know I have got dslr (650d), kit lense(18-55) + two lenses (tam17-50 f2.8 nonvc, canon 50 f1.8), Simpex 999 flash and one eos bag came free same like school bag

Tell me what are all must have with camera and lenses like lens filters – there are many filters but dont know what is what… and hoods…

Tripod – dont know which is standard and economic.

Flash accessories – reflectors, diffusors etc… may be I will have to buy a TTL wireless flash… which one? i think its better to buy canon, goes well with canon.

There are many accessories which you can buy but it all depends on your needs. If you do not shoot landscapes, there is not much of a need of a graduated ND filter. So I would recommend you to carry on with photography and as you get more specific on your genre of choice, I can recommend you the accessories.

Always its preferred to get accessories from the manufacturer of your camera as they are compatible & integrated. For buying a tripod, Benro & Manfrotto are good choice. Before I can recommend, you will need to mention your budget.

… as of now I don’t know any thing therefore nothing specific to me. I have camera and lenses, now is there any thing which is must to have along with camera, protection aspect… like lens protector etc. someone told me to use filter to protect the lens.

Coming to tripod, I have not allocated any budget as its one time buy and will serve for quite some time down the line, should be reasonably good.

Coming to Tamron 17-50 non vc, really don’t know why I am not able to take good photos with it (in terms of clarity, blur etc) when compared with canon 18-55 kit lens… it may be because of IS. Now a days most of the times I am using kit lens. Looks like autofocus is an issue… its not locking properly, if I do manual it comes out well again i have to hold very study to avoid blur, but some how gettling blur. During diwaali, all kids lighting crackers, no time to focus. Thinking of selling this and buy a canon 15-85mm or canon 18-135mm. What do you suggest…

I searched for the Manfrotto 190XPROB, I got some deals online. Some showing with head and some without head. What is the head part? Does this comes with head again have to buy head separately? but confused…

A head is one of the most crucial sub-system of a tripod. It is what takes the inital weight of your gear & also helps in maneuvering camera. Head comes in varying types,sizes & load-bearing capacity. However for photography, most of the photographers are comfortable using a ‘Ball Head’ which as name suggests is a ball mechanism which allows for quick movement of camera in any direction. The other type is ‘Pan Head’ which is used mostly by videographers as it allows precise movement in vertical & horizontal axis.

You can definitely go for the tripod with head included in the package. It is recommended to get a head having load bearing capacity than your current equipment so it is not only future-proof but can also withstand your current gear easily. Generally a head having 5KG load-bearing capacity will suffice for you.